Sandiganbayan to hear Padaca’s plea to travel to US to observe polls

Comelec Commissioner Grace Padaca.

MANILA, Philippines – The anti-graft court’s Fifth Division is set to hear Tuesday newly appointed Commission on Elections (Comelec) Commissioner Grace Padaca’s motion seeking for a permit to travel to the United States (US) to observe the elections.

In an interview Tuesday, Padaca said that she had been assigned by the poll body to attend the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) US Election Program. IFES is a non-government organization which aims to “strengthen electoral systems and build local capacity to deliver sustainable solutions.”

In its official website, IFES said that the US Election Program, to be held in Washington D.C, would bring together over 300 election officials, parliamentarians and diplomats from over 50 countries to “observe and learn about the US electoral system as well as discuss elections and voting from comparative international perspectives.”

Padaca, in the interview, noted that the slot and formal invitation for the seminar was really for Comelec Chairman Sixto Brillantes Jr but the latter declined, saying he wanted to go but that he was too busy and had important matters to attend to in the country.

Padaca said that the first time she talked with the organizers, she told them that she had a lot of problems because her US visa had already expired and that she had a hold departure order from the anti-graft court.

“But they went on with the invitation,” she said. Padaca, a former Isabela governor, is facing graft and malversation charges for allegedly awarding a P25-million grant to non-government organization Economic Development for Western Isabela and Northern Luzon Foundation Inc. (EDWINLFI) without public bidding for the operation of a credit facility for rice farmers back in 2006.

Padaca’s arraignment had been set on November 29. The anti-graft court had also recalled an arrest warrant for her, after she, accompanied by Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas II , posted a P70,000 bail. Roxas had said that the money used came from President Benigno Aquino III.

Padaca said that if allowed by the court, she would be at the conference from November 2 to 10.

Meanwhile, in a separate statement, the IFES announced that Christian Monsod, former Comelec chairman, founder and honorary chairman of the Legal Network for Truthful Elections (Lente) and pioneer of the National Citizen’s Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel), was this year’s recipient of the 2012 Joe C. Baxter Award.

It said that the awarding ceremony would be held on November 5 and in conjunction with the US Election Program conference.

It said the Monsod was being recognized for “reshaping electoral administration in the Philippines, focusing on building transparent processes and ensuring greater participation of traditionally marginalized populations.”

The Joe Baxter Award is presented annually to a professional committed to the principles of local ownership, transparency and sustainability of electoral administration, it said.